[CircleUp] Oweesta Awards Financial Education Grants in South Dakota

[Heidi Davis]

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact:  Kim Hayes, (301) 585-1131; kim at oweesta.org

 

Oweesta Awards Financial Education Grants in South Dakota; Services to
Tribal Communities will be Enhanced, Expanded

 

June 17, 2009, Rapid City, SD//  Three Native organizations in South
Dakota will enhance their financial education and homebuyer education
programs through a grant program from First Nations Oweesta Corporation
(Oweesta). With funding provided by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des
Moines (FHLB Des Moines), Oweesta is awarding the second year of the
South Dakota Native Financial Education Grant. 

 

The $2,000 grants go to Native organizations delivering financial
education training and/or homebuyer education to Native people in South
Dakota. The 2009 recipients are: Oglala Sioux Tribe Partnership for
Housing, on the Pine Ridge Reservation; Four Bands Community Fund on the
Cheyenne River Reservation, and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Financial
Education Initiative, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. 

 

 "Oweesta would like to thank FHLB Des Moines for providing the funding
that will enhance financial education and homebuyer education, which are
vital elements in building strong Native communities," said Tracey
Fisher, Interim President and CEO of Oweesta. "For example, these funds
will assist Standing Rock with expanding services to include financial
education. This will assure that their clients are ready to take
advantage of existing business development products and services offered
at their Entrepreneurial Centers. " 

 

Generally, grant recipients will use the awards to upgrade their
computer and impact data tracking systems, offer additional financial
education workshops, purchase course materials and increase their
outreach efforts.  The first round of grants, given out in 2008, enabled
at least 120 adults and middle and high school students to participate
in financial education and home buyer education courses. 

 

 "We are very pleased with the positive impact this program has had in
South Dakota," said David Fleming, Manager of Lending and Capitalization
at Oweesta.  "Among other benefits, this year's funding will help expand
services into remote areas of the state. For example, financial
education courses will be taught in more remote  districts of the Pine
Ridge Reservation, including Oglala, Porcupine, and Wakpamni."

 

For more information about these grants or Oweesta's other lending and
grant programs, please visit www.oweesta.org or contact David Fleming at
(605) 342-3770 or David at oweesta.org. 

 

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About Oweesta 

Oweesta (http://www.oweesta.org) is a certified Native CDFI
intermediary, providing Native communities with loans, investments,
technical assistance, training and community development information.
Its mission is to provide opportunities for Native people to develop
assets and create wealth by assisting in the establishment 

of strong, permanent institutions and programs, leading to economic
independence and strengthening sovereignty for all Native communities.

 

About the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines 

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines is a wholesale cooperative bank
that provides low-cost short and long-term funding and community lending
to more than 1,200 members, including commercial banks, saving
institutions, credit unions and insurance companies. The Bank is wholly
owned by its members and receives no taxpayer funding. The Des Moines
Bank serves Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota and
is one of twelve regional Banks that make up the Federal Home Loan Bank
System.

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